1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the forward leading end point of arrowheads or arrowhead tips, and more particularly to removably attachable arrowhead tips that may be selectively aligned in specific orientation with structures of their corresponding arrowhead bodies, such as specifically aligning cutting edges of arrowhead tip facet junctures with the cutting blades of the arrowhead.
2. Description of Prior Art
Arrows have long been used for war, hunting and competitive sports. A conventional arrow has a shaft, a nock at one end that receives the bow string, an arrowhead or point that attaches to the opposite end, and fletchings. The fletchings are glued to the shaft near the nock end, and help to stabilize the arrow in flight, as it rotates. Arrowheads generally have a pointed forward end, and an opposite threaded shaft end that attaches the arrowhead to the arrow shaft. Arrowheads are also attached to the forward end of arrow shafts by glueing and other methods.
Arrowheads come in a variety of different sizes and configurations depending on their intended use. For example, there are specifically designed arrowheads for competitive target shooting, shooting fish, hunting birds or small game animals, and for hunting big game animals.
The most common type of arrowhead used in hunting is the fixed-blade arrowhead, which has a pointed tip end used for penetrating, and fixed blades or non-pivotal blades that each have a razor sharp edge for cutting. Conventional fixed-blade arrowheads blades are held in a fixed position on the arrowhead, and most such blades are replaceable. The replaceable blades attach to the arrowhead body in longitudinal grooves called blade slots. The tip of the arrowhead may be separably attachable to the arrowhead body or may be integral with it. Arrowheads for hunting are generally known as broadheads.
Another popular type of arrowhead for hunting is the blade-opening arrowhead. Blade-opening arrowheads, like conventional fixed-blade arrowheads generally have an elongated arrowhead body, a tip end, and a threaded opposite end. The blades of blade-opening arrowheads have an attachment end which attaches the blades to the arrowhead body by a pivot pin, so that the blades can pivot or rotate in a plane between a first selectable positionxe2x80x94the retracted position, and a second selectable positionxe2x80x94the open position. Blade-opening arrowheads also come in a variety of different types and styles. The blades of the most common type of blade-opening arrowheads, when in the retracted position have a leading blade end positioned near the tip of the arrowhead that protrudes outward from the arrowhead body. The leading blade ends of such blade-opening arrowheads, rotate away from the arrowhead body in a rearward direction when penetrating an animal. Particularly, the leading blade ends catch on the animal""s surface and serve to lever or rotate the blades into the open position, thus exposing the sharp cutting edges of the blades and cutting the animal. The blades of blade-opening arrowheads are also received in blade slots, which are machined or formed into the side of the arrowhead body.
Broadheads kill game animals by cutting vital organs such as the lungs and vascular vessels such as arteries, which causes rapid hemorrhaging and/or suffocation. Quick and humane kills are dependent on accurate shot placement, and upon the amount or volume of the animal tissue that is cut. Hunting arrowheads that cut more tissue are more lethal, and therefore are better. The volume of tissue that is cut is determined by the cutting diameter of the arrowhead, the number of blades it contains, and by the distance the arrowhead penetrates into the animal. The cutting diameter of an arrowhead is determined by how far each cutting blade extends outward from the arrowhead body. The further the blades extend outward the larger the cutting diameter is, and therefore the more cutting potential the arrowhead has.
The forward end or tip of most broadheads have a chisel type tip such as the three sided hollow ground trocar tip. The chisel tips generally have multiple sides or facets with a cutting edge formed at the juncture of each two facets. Typically there is the same number of cutting edges on the arrowhead tip at facet junctures as there is arrowhead cutting blades. To further aid in increased penetration it is desirable to align the cutting edges of the arrowhead tip with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades. This increases penetration since the cutting blades follow the exact cut path created by the tip, and thus less kinetic energy is depleted.
Some broadhead manufacturers currently align the arrowhead tip cutting edges with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades by attaching the tips to the arrowhead bodies via press fittingxe2x80x94where each tip is non-removably pressed onto a corresponding arrowhead body. Since press fitting is generally done with robotics it is possible to consistently align the cutting edges of the arrowhead tip with the blade slots of the arrowhead body, therefore when the cutting blades are attached in the blade slots the cutting edges of the blades are aligned with the cutting edges of the tip. One problem inherent with arrowheads having press fit arrowhead tips is that the tips are not replaceable. So should a press fit tip""s cutting edge become damaged, for example as commonly happens when the arrow misses its mark and impacts a rock or another hard object, the entire arrowhead must be disregarded or be shot with a dull tip.
Other broadhead manufacturers use removably attachable arrowhead tips so that the arrowhead can always have an optimally structured and sharp tip, by being replaced when damaged. The removably attachable arrowhead tips generally screw-on to their respective arrowhead bodies. A problem with screw-on arrowhead tips is that they do not produce a consistent orientation of tip cutting edges with the arrowhead blades. This makes it so the tip cutting edges rarely align with the arrowhead blade cutting edges despite how exact the tolerances of the manufacturing protocol are.
It is apparent that there is a need for a replaceable or removably attachable arrowhead tip that is capable of being consistently aligned with a corresponding arrowhead body such that the cutting edges of the arrowhead tip are in-line with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades every time the tip or a tip is attached thereto.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a replaceable or removably attachable arrowhead tip that is capable of being consistently aligned with a corresponding arrowhead body such that the cutting edges of the arrowhead tip are in-line or coplanar with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades every time the tip or a tip is attached thereto.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a replaceable or removably attachable arrowhead tip having removably attachable tip blades, which tip is capable of being consistently aligned with a corresponding arrowhead body such that the cutting edges of the arrowhead tip and the cutting edges of the tip blades are in-line or coplanar with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades every time the tip is attached thereto.
The foregoing objects and advantages and other objects and advantages of the present invention are accomplished as according to one embodiment of this invention with a three faceted hollow ground trocar arrowhead tip that attaches to the forward end of a fixed-blade arrowhead body. The trocar tip has a female cavity that screws onto a male stud of the arrowhead body. The trocar tip also, has an internal annular wall that has a notch formed thereon, such that the notch is in-line or coplanar with one of the three tip facet juncture cutting edges. The arrowhead body has three blade slots shaped such that when an arrowhead blade is inserted in each slot the forward leading end of each blade extends forwardly of an annular shelf or necked down region of the arrowhead body. A substantially flat metal alignment washer is then situated upon the three extending forward arrowhead blades and upon the annular shelf of the arrowhead body so as to encircle around the threaded stud before the trocar tip is attached thereto. The alignment washer serves to align and lock the arrowhead tip such that its facet juncture cutting edges are oriented coplanar with the cutting edges of the arrowhead cutting blades. The alignment washer has three protrusions each wide enough to fit over the forward end of a corresponding arrowhead blade, and a cantilever or deflectable section between each of the protrusions. Each of the three cantilever sections has a fulcrum which is defined at the rearward most section thereof.
Therefore, when an alignment washer is situated on such an arrowhead body having three such arrowhead blades attached thereto, each protrusion fits over the forward end of one of the arrowhead blades such that the each forward blade end mates within a void created by the corresponding protrusion, and all three of the fulcrums abut against the annular shelf of the arrowhead body. The mating of the blades and protrusions prevents the alignment washer from rotating circumferentially about the arrowhead body or from being displaced or moved relative to the arrowhead body in any undesirably fashion, while yet allowing enough space between the forward most end of each arrowhead blade and corresponding protrusions for each protrusion to have axial movement or displacement in a rearward direction a certain distance before coming into abutment with the forward end of the arrowhead blade. Therefore, when the trocar tip is screwed onto the stud of the arrowhead body the annular wall of the tip contacts the forward side of each protrusion and causes corresponding cantilever sections to flex as the tip is rotated or turned to tighten it thereon, except for when the notch is rotated into alignment with a protrusion whereupon the protrusion is mated into the notch by the urging force of the corresponding flexed cantilever sections and a click sound is emitted. As the tip is continued to be screwed onto the arrowhead body the mating of the notch and a protrusion occurs every ⅓ turn until the tip is completely tighten thereto and the notch is left mated with a protrusion. Since the notch is in-line or coplanar with one of the three facet juncture cutting edges of the trocar tip, and since each protrusion is also substantially in-line or coplanar with its corresponding arrowhead blade, when the tip is tightened onto the arrowhead body and stopped at the last click or mating of the notch and one of the protrusions each cutting edge of the trocar tip is in-line or coplanar with a cutting edge of an arrowhead blade. Also, the trocar tip is locked in place such that it can not rattle or vibrate loose. Such an arrowhead tip creates an arrowhead that always has the cutting edges of the tip in-line with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades every time the tip or a tip is attached to the arrowhead. Such an arrowhead tip therefore creates a more lethal and better arrowhead.
Another embodiment of the present invention differs from the above disclosed embodiment in that the arrowhead body is a blade-opening arrowhead body having blade slots that extend forward into communication with an annular shelf also situated about a male stud, and that the alignment washer and arrowhead tip have slightly different structural characteristics. The alignment washer has three smaller width forward extending protrusions and three larger width rearwardly extending protrusions. The arrowhead tip has one notch formed in an internal annular wall. The notch is not coplanar with any of the tip facet juncture cutting edges. The notch is of a width so as to be matable with one forward extending protrusions of the alignment washer. Each rearward extending protrusion of the alignment washer seats within a blade slot and prevents undesirably movement or rotation of the alignment washer about the stud and arrowhead body. Since the forward extending protrusions of the alignment washer are not coplanar with any of the arrowhead body blade slots the notch is not coplanar with any of the tip facet juncture cutting edges either. The notch however, is formed in the arrowhead tip in such a location that when the tip cutting edges are coplanar with corresponding arrowhead blade cutting edges the notch is mated with a forward extending protrusion, thus allowing the cutting edges of both the tip and arrowhead blades to be in-line or coplanar with each other every time the tip or a similar tip is secured to the arrowhead body, as is according to the desired results of this invention.
Other embodiments of this invention differ from the above described embodiments in that the arrowhead tips have tip blades that are removably attachable therewith. The razor sharp cutting edges of the tip blades are aligned coplanar with the facet juncture cutting edges of the arrowhead tips and therefore are also coplanar with the cutting edges of the arrowhead blades when corresponding arrowhead tips are secured to corresponding arrowhead bodies.
Yet other embodiments of this invention differ from the above described preferred embodiments in that they have slight variations in the structural shapes, and locations of notches, protrusions, fulcrums, and tip blades as according to this invention.
As has been shown in the above discussion the arrowhead tips and arrowheads as according to this invention overcome deficiencies inherent in prior art arrowhead tips and arrowheads.